United States of America
This article is about a fictional representation of a real-world topic. The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, or the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The United States has at times fallen under the influence of various clandestine organizations, such as the Philosophers and the Patriots, until the destruction of the latter in the early 21st century. Geography and history ﻿The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific. At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with about 308 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by land area and population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of U.S. $14.4 trillion (a quarter of nominal global GDP and a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity). Indigenous peoples, probably of Asian descent, have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This Native American population was greatly reduced after European contact by disease and warfare. The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and their establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791. In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for two-fifths of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world. Cold War The United States was one of the three countries whose true power players became part of a secret group called the Philosophers. During World War II, the U.S., China and the Soviet Union amassed a vast cache of funds, which would later be known as the Philosophers' Legacy. The three countries' Philosophers pooled their assets in order to secure victory in the War, funding such activities as backroom campaigns and military research. The three countries agreed to distribute the assets after the end of the War. During the war, the U.S. acted on false information supplied by the Soviet Union, in regards to John von Neumann being a Nazi spy sent to sabotage the Manhattan Project. America's "Mother of Special Forces," The Boss, was ordered to assassinate Neumann and make it seem as though it were an accident, although she failed partially due to her joy at being pregnant with her child. The Russian Philosophers had released the false information in order to prevent the American Philosophers from developing a plutonium bomb as soon as they did. After the Allies secured victory in the war, the confusion that followed allowed for the theft of the Philosophers' Legacy. This resulted in the three branches of the Philosophers each scrambling to acquire the Legacy for themselves, which factored into the main causes of the subsequent Cold War. The U.S. and the Soviet Union immediately embarked on a nuclear arms and space race in their attempts to dominate the other. But neither side went into war with each other, fearing nuclear retaliation. From 1956 to the early 1960s, the U.S. sabotaged several Soviet attempts at Sputnik testing due to intel supplied via a sleeper agent handpicked by The Boss, although it later became apparent that he was bought off by the Soviets after the CIA pocketed a large portion of his paycheck, feeding them misinformation instead. Eventually during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. and Russia entered negotiations to prevent a nuclear war from happening. Officially, the U.S.' end of the bargain was to dismantle their nukes from Turkey, called the Turkey Deal. In actuality, however, it was to allow the Soviets to retrieve a defecting Soviet rocket scientist named Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov. In 1964, two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. secretly planned an operation to first recover Sokolov, and later to eliminate the rogue GRU Colonel Volgin and the threat posed by his secret weapon, as well as to assassinate one of their own agents who defected to the Soviet Union. However, the real purpose was to recover the Philosophers' Legacy that was in the hands of Volgin, and also having The Boss fake her defection to get the Philosophers' Legacy, although due to various manipulations, including the U.S. Government nearly ending up going into World War III with the Soviet Union due to Colonel Volgin destroying the Sokolov Research Facility using one of the experimental Davy Crocketts that The Boss (and by extension, the U.S. Government), they ended up eliminating The Boss in order to clear their own name and at the same time gain the Legacy. After the success of Operation Snake Eater however, the U.S. only recovered half of the Legacy. In 1970, the Pentagon and the CIA began to bicker between themselves over the Legacy. An incident in the San Hieronymo Peninsula of Colombia was instigated to end the American Philosophers by Major Zero and former Philosopher triple agent Ocelot. Their control over the United States was transferred to the modern successors named the Patriots. Post-San Hieronymo Comprising of those that were directly involved in Operation Snake Eater (ie. as field agents and mission support) and were directly inspired by The Boss, they sought to bring The Boss' last will to fruition. However, disagreements within the Patriots rose between Major Zero and Big Boss, and the latter left the Patriots after finding out about the Les Enfants Terribles project. In 1974, the U.S. was engaged in SALT-II talks with the Soviet Union to reduce their nuclear armanents but was also trying to deal with the Soviet infiltration of Central America. The Soviets had the intention of converting the entire subcontinent to Communism and cause a big blow against the U.S. since it's their backyard. Due to their economic and trading ties, the loss of Central America to Communism would possibly cause the U.S. to lose the Cold War. At the same time, the U.S. had a major scare when it appeared that the Soviet Union launched their full nuclear arsenal against the U.S. mainland. They prepared to retaliate until Big Boss called to notify them that it was a false alarm set up by CIA station chief Hot Coldman. Similarly, the East Coast of the U.S.' nearly came under a nuclear strike, this time from an agent of the Patriots, then operating under the name of Cipher, in order to frame Big Boss and his private military unit, the Militaires Sans Frontieres, for being an extremist cult as a safeguard should Big Boss not agree to rejoin Cipher. As the Cold War drew to a close, the United States was gradually falling under the influence of Zero's Patriots, who sought to unify the world by control. Patriot rule By 1995, the Patriots controlled all aspects of American life, pulling the strings such as the choosing of the U.S. President behind closed doors. The Soviet Union collapsed, leaving the United States as the sole superpower. Big Boss prepared to rebel against the Patriots through the Outer Heaven Uprising in 1995 and the Zanzibar Land Disturbance four years later. The United States, under the control of the Patriots, saw their former hero as a terrorist and managed to foil him both times via Solid Snake, an agent of FOXHOUND. In the latter event, the U.S. saw potential of a new weapon called Metal Gear and secretly began building Metal Gear REX under the joint cooperation of ArmsTech and DARPA to counter the effects of global military downsizing. By this time, the U.S. was engaged in treaty talks with Russia to reduce their nuclear armaments. In the meantime, Big Boss was recovered, still alive but heavily charred and kept in stasis by the Patriots. Zero extended his control over the American state to include the whole world in the meantime and commissioned the development of AIs to carry on Zero's interpretation of The Boss' will. In 2005, the United States was prepared to sign the START-3 treaty with Russia and reduce their nuclear armaments further when FOXHOUND, led by Liquid Snake, rebelled and took over the Shadow Moses facility in Alaska, where Metal Gear REX was to be tested. In actuality, the U.S. President George Sears (a.k.a. Solidus Snake) masterminded the incident without the knowledge of the Patriots, to rebel against them. Solid Snake was called in once again to foil FOXHOUND's plans but the Patriots got wind of the terrorist action and worked behind the scenes to recover the bodies of the Genome Soliders and REX's test data. Post-Shadow Moses The incident became public knowledge when Nastasha Romanenko published her book, In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth detailing the events of the Shadow Moses Incident. This led to the Patriots to remove Solidus Snake as the President and appointed James Johnson as the next President. The Patriots held a fake election in order to convince the public that they were in control. By the time of the Manhattan Incident in 2007 (and later 2009), the Patriots implemented nanomachines into the U.S. military. Post-Big Shell The SOP system, as it was called, helped improve their soldiers combat skills without going through intensive training and ID-tagged their weaponry and gear. They later became dependent on the nanomachines to guide their actions. However, the United States could no longer interfere in other countries' military affairs without suffering severe public backlash, especially after the Manhatten Incident in 2009. The Patriots thus created the war economy to be fuelled by private military companies. These PMCs were endorsed by the United Nations, but the U.S. Government did not appreciate the idea. It was too late, however, because since the Cold War the U.S. had exported too much military power to the world and was now paying the price. Five of the biggest PMCs were headed by a mother company called Outer Heaven, led by Liquid Ocelot, and two of them were located inside America. Together these PMCs rivalled the United States Army in manpower and machines but the U.S. could only observe or supervise their actions while the war economy was going on. In 2014, Liquid Ocelot was planning to launch an insurrection against the Patriots. The United States initially turned a blind eye to this. But after Rat Patrol Team 01 reported Liquid's increasingly hostile actions, the incumbent President finally gave the order for the U.S. military to take Liquid and the PMCs down by force if necessary. However, Liquid managed to hijack the SOP system by using the corpse of Solidus Snake and locked the American forces' weaponry. Effectively Liquid forced a violent ceasefire across the globe, leaving the American military and the rest of the globe powerless and ineffective to stop Liquid's insurrection against the Patriots. However, Liquid only controlled small arms and vehicles implemented with the SOP system; America's nuclear arsenal was still in the hands of the United States (or rather, the Patriots' master AI, JD). The United States was saved from Liquid's insurrection, and also freed from the Patriots' grasp, when an aging Solid Snake, with help from his allies, stopped the nuclear launch from Outer Haven and FOXALIVE wiped out GW and all of the other Patriot AIs. FOXALIVE left parts of society controlled by the Patriots intact, allowing the United States and the rest of the world to rebuild as a modern civilization. However, the military was in disarray when most of the soldiers with nanomachines were suffering from SOP syndrome, and the American Government also gave up on unilateralism. The last remaining founding members of the Patriots (Zero and Big Boss) died, thus ending the Patriots' reign over the United States for good. Examples of U.S. locations Alcatraz Island, California Alcatraz Island is a maximum security prison facility located 1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco bay. It was so remote, and located within shark-infested waters, as well as being far enough away from mainland to render swimming to and from the prison unlikely, that it was built up as being an inescapable prison. Its stance as a prison was eventually shut down in March 21st, 1963 due to maintenance costs exceeding the other prisons in the nation, as well as the buildings being eroded by the seawater, and is currently a national park. The prison was briefly mentioned by Militaires Sans Frontieres subcommander Kazuhira Miller, while irritably remarking about Zadornov's frequent escape attempts from Mother Base, during the 1974 Peace Walker Incident.Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010). Kazuhira Miller (radio): Does this guy have a Houdini complex or what? Good God, the man could swim his way out of Alcatraz. Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia Arlington National Cemetery is a graveyard for fallen soldiers and veterans, as well as a burial place for US Presidents. Here, the lowliest private is buried alongside 4-star generals. It was created during the Civil War on the grounds of Arlington Farm, which had been seized from the family of General Robert E. Lee. After the events of Operation Snake Eater in 1964, The Boss, despite her status as a traitor in the United States, and as a war criminal in the Soviet Union, was allowed to be buried in Arlington National cemetery, where her protége Naked Snake, a.k.a. Big Boss, visited and paid his respects. Solid Snake later visited this grave to pay his respects to Big Boss, and was paying his respects when called in by Roy Campbell to participate in the mission to assassinate Liquid Ocelot. Shortly after completing the mission, as well as ending the Patriots, he revisits Arlington so he can erase his genes and memes, and later has his last meeting with Big Boss, before the latter succumbs to FOXDIE. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an underground set of caverns. It was a National Park for tourists to explore the caverns. However, the Government used the caverns since at least the FDR administration during World War II as a safehouse in case America was ever directly attacked by the Axis Forces, and has also used it for other research projects. Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Cheyenne Mountain is a mountain located on the outside of the southwest of Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It is home to the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate. It was formerly named the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center as well as nicknamed Crystal Palace. It is also the headquarters for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which is unusual in that, outside of it being built within a 2000-ft mountain, NORAD is also a joint military effort by the United States Army/Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard/Air Force and the Canadian Forces. On November 23rd of 1974, NORAD Headquarters in Cheyenne Mountain picked up trajectory data that led the NORAD staff to believe that the United States was to suffer a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Due to most of the White House Cabinet attending the SALT II talks in Vladivostok, the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff were forced to make the decision as to whether to make a retalitory nuclear strike to the East. In actuality, the trajectory data was falsified as part of a rogue CIA project backed by the Station Chief of Central America Hot Coldman, called the Peace Walker project. Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation in North Carolina. Named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg, it is the home for several airborne units and special forces units. The Boss was offered to teach at the newly instated HALO Military School at Fort Bragg in 1957. In 1970, Roy Campbell of the Green Berets was stationed in Fort Bragg when he and his unit were dispatched into Colombia to investigate San Hieronymo when it was mysteriously nearing completion until they were ambushed by the FOX unit. NAVSCOLEOD Indian Head, Maryland NAVSCOLEOD Indian Head is a Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal located in Indian Head, Maryland. The bomb disposal expert Peter Stillman used to be a lecturer there where he taught Fatman. New York City, New York New York City is the largest city in the United States of America. Divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, it is an important economic structure of the United States. It was initially founded by the Dutch and initially called New Amsterdam, but was surrendered to the British, and renamed New York in honor of the Duke of Albany and York. Naomi Hunter's falsified case file stated that she was born in New York City. In April 2009, a large area of Manhattan was destroyed after Revolver Ocelot (under his Liquid Snake persona) set Arsenal Gear on a direct course towards the city. Federal Hall, NYC Federal Hall is a building on Wall Street, NYC. It is the site of President George Washington's inauguration ceremony, and a statue of him (which has since become both a landmark and an icon) stands outside to commemorate the occasion. Raiden met Rosemary for the first time on April 30, 2007, on the steps of Federal Hall. Two years later to the day, Raiden fought and killed Solidus Snake at the climax of the Big Shell Incident. Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth was the fourth most populated city in Rockingham county of New Hampshire. It is a historic Seaport as well as the home to the Pease Air Force Base. After the destruction of REX by operative Solid Snake and the death of Liquid, nearly all of the surviving Genome Soldiers were transferred to the Pease AFB in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where they were imprisoned for the official reason of treason, although Nastasha's book implies that they were actually sent there so the Patriots could continue experimenting on them. Johnny Sasaki somehow managed to avoid being sent there. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is also the hometown of Zero. Behind the scenes The United States of America is featured heavily throughout the Metal Gear series, with the majority of characters and associated groups being of American nationality and origin. America as a setting first appears in Metal Gear Solid with Shadow Moses Island in Alaska. In Snake's Revenge, one of the targets for Metal Gear 2's nuclear strike was New York City. Similarly, in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, General Augustine Eguabon considered New York City as one of Metal Gear's targets, when giving his ultimatum to the United States. In the North American version of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus, there are passcode unlockable soldiers that each represent the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. In the Raymond Benson novelization of Metal Gear Solid, Carlsbad Caverns National Park was where the Twin Snakes of Les Enfants Terribles were born. Notes and references Appearances * Metal Gear Solid (The Twin Snakes) * Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty * Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater * Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops * Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker See also * Alaska Sources Category:Locations